1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to three-dimensional (3D) glasses and a 3D display apparatus which enable the viewing of 3D images.
2. Description of the Related Art
3D stereoscopic image technology is applicable to various fields such as information communication, broadcasting, medicine, education & training, military, games, animation, virtual reality, computer-aided design (CAD), and industrial technology, and is regarded as a core base technology for the next generation three-dimensional stereoscopic multimedia information communication, which is utilized in all the aforementioned fields.
Generally, a stereoscopic sense that a person perceives occurs from a complex effect, including: the degree of change in thickness of a person's eye lens according to the location of an object being observed, the difference in the angle of the object as perceived by the left and right eyes, the differences in location and shape of the object as perceived by the left and right both eyes, the time difference due to movement of the object, and various other psychological and memory effects.
In particular, binocular disparity, caused by an approximate 6-7 cm lateral distance between a person's left eye and right eye, can be regarded as the main cause of the stereoscopic sense. Due to binocular disparity, the person perceives the object at different angles, which makes the left eye and the right eye perceive different images, and when these two images are transmitted to the person's brain through the retinas, the brain can perceive the original three-dimensional stereoscopic image by combining the two pieces of information precisely.
There are two types of stereoscopic image display apparatuses: glasses-type apparatuses which use special glasses, and non-glasses type apparatuses which do not use such special glasses. A glasses-type apparatus may adopt a color filtering method which separately selects images by filtering colors which are in mutually complementary relationships, a polarized filtering method which separates the images received by a left eye from those received by a right eye using a light-shading effect caused by a combination of polarized light elements meeting at right angles, or a shutter glasses method which enables a person to perceive a stereoscopic sense by blocking a left eye and a right eye alternately in response to a sync signal which projects a left image signal and a right image signal to a screen.
Of the above, the shutter glasses method is a display method which utilizes the binocular disparity between the left and right eyes. It is a method of synchronizing the image provision of the display apparatus with the on/off of the left and right portions of the 3D glasses, so that the images, having different angles can be combined so a user can perceive a sense of 3D space due to the functions of the brain.
That is, using a shutter glasses display method, a user must wear 3D glasses in order to view 3D images, in which case an IR(infrared) wavelength emitter and receiver is used in order to coordinate the signal synchronization between a television (TV) and the 3D glasses. It is possible to improve the sensitivity of signal reception by minimizing the effects of external noise according to the shape of the receiver of the 3D glasses unit and the surrounding structure.
However, conventional 3D glasses were designed without considering such a structure, and thus had a problem that erroneous operations could occur due to various light sources including IR elements. Accordingly, there is a need to provide 3D glasses which are more convenient to users.